Taliesin Preservation
Wisconsin’s Frank Lloyd Wright buildings now rank side by side with the Taj Mahal and Easter Island, selected as World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
We never thought this would happen, it comes as a complete surprise, and we would like to thank all the little pyramids and sphinxes that made it possible.
But now what do we do with it? Not to look a UNESCO horse in the mouth, but how did this happen, what comes next, and (ahem) can we make money off it?
The answers are politics, increased tourism, and you bet.
UNESCO is looking for sites around the world that are worthy of attention and preservation. The organization bases its decision on 10 selection criteria, including that the site represents “a masterpiece of human creative genius.” Only 24 sites are in the U.S. and most of these are natural wonders (Yellowstone) or archeological sites (Monumental Earthworks of Poverty Point, in Louisiana). No others are in the Midwest. So it’s a big deal for “The 20th Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright” to make UNESCO’s list.
The organization chose eight Wright-designed buildings, and two are in Wisconsin: the architect’s home, Taliesin, near Spring Green, and the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House in Madison. The others are: Fallingwater in Mill Run, Pennsylvania; the Frederick C. Robie House in Chicago; Hollyhock House in Los Angeles; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City; Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona; and Unity Temple in Oak Park, Illinois.
In all, Wisconsin is home to 40 Wright-designed buildings, 11 of which are open to the public.
“Frank Lloyd Wright considered Wisconsin home. His signature Prairie Style architecture was inspired by the rolling hills, lush valleys and farmlands found in our state, so it’s fitting that two landmarks included in the Frank Lloyd Wright World Heritage Site are in Wisconsin,” says Anne Sayers, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism. She also sits on the board of Taliesin Preservation Inc. “People want to visit landmarks that are considered as significant as the Pyramids in Egypt or the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.”
And once visitors arrive, says Sayers, “they will want to see even more of Wright’s work and experience his artistic legacy in the state.”
Julie Jensen, executive director of the Spring Green Area Chamber of Commerce, says she expects a rise in tourism to the area. “Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture is stunning and innovative, and anyone who has not experienced his architecture, really must venture to Taliesin.”
Taliesin Preservation
Taliesin’s open, sprawling living room offers intimate spaces.
Carrie Van Hallgren, managing director for American Players Theatre, says Taliesin is already a big draw to the area. “We frequently hear stories of APT patrons who made their way here due to a visit to Taliesin, and we know many of our patrons — especially those from a long distance away — incorporate a visit to Taliesin into their visit.”
Local businesses also benefit from increased tourism, says Joel Marcus, a Spring Green village board member and owner of Nina’s Department and Variety Store.
“Every summer we see many visitors in Nina’s from Europe, Japan, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, and Argentina,” he says. “If we chat, I usually ask them what brought them to Spring Green. Their answer is almost always Taliesin.”
In fact, Frank Lloyd Wright is apparently well known in some circles in China. “Last summer we had an extended family group from China,” he says. Their daughter had married an American and they were visiting the new in-laws in the Washington, D.C., area.
When their hosts asked what they most wanted to see while they were in America, they said Taliesin. “So they drove in two cars to Wisconsin, eventually finding their way into Nina’s,” says Marcus.
More tourism for Taliesin is likely, but will Madison’s Wright sites also get a boost? Not as many Madisonians are aware of the Jacobs House as they are of Taliesin, says Victor Sidy, former dean of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, who runs a private firm in Phoenix, Arizona, and teaches at Arizona State University.
He calls the Westmorland neighborhood house, a privately held property on Toepfer Avenue, one of the earliest and purest examples of Wright’s interest in designing for common folk.
“It’s in a neighborhood, “ says Sidy, “so I’m curious how a parade of onlookers is going to impact that.”
Who set the wheels in motion for the UNESCO nomination? The Chicago-based Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy made the recommendation. “My involvement was through the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation,” says Sidy. “We were not the drivers but we were definitely on the bus.”
Two Wright-designed structures adjacent to Taliesin were not nominated, though Sidy suggests that they could be considered by UNESCO in the future. They are the Wright-designed Romeo and Juliet windmill and the Hillside Home School.
A nearby attraction also did not make the cut. It’s not a Wright design but still an architectural wonder (or, at the very least, a curiosity) and mainstay of Spring Green tourism: The House on the Rock.
“I was thinking it,” says Sidy, “but I wasn’t going to mention it.”
[Editor's note: This article was corrected to note that the Jacobs House is located in Madison's Westmorland neighborhood, not the Vilas neighborhood and that Fallingwater is in Mill Run, Pennsylvania.]
